Jeans for £1000 – are they worth it?

The £1000 jeans created by French fashion house Balmain are flying off the shelves in the UK. But, we ask, can their price tag possibly be justified?

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Niamh Brennan-Bernatt in Balmain's £1000 jeansPhoto: ANDREW CROWLEY

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Niamh Brennan-Bernatt in Balmain's £1000 jeansPhoto: ANDREW CROWLEY

By Niamh Brennan-Bernatt

1:30PM GMT 27 Jan 2009

I'm sitting at my desk wearing the last pair left in London of Balmain's infamous £1,060 jeans, asking myself: are they worth it? These 'motorcycle jeans', along with Balmain's even more eye-wateringly expensive, ripped-at-the-knee version, have caused quite a stir in the fashion world and among its critics. But Balmain designer Christophe Decarnin is sticking to his guns, claiming that the jeans' price reflects the level of workmanship that has gone into their construction. Wearing them, though, I'm not sure how distinct that 'workmanship' is from any of the other jeans I've ever tried on.

There is certainly more detail on these white denim lovelies than on any of my own. They stay true to their name, harnessing the spirit of motorcycle leathers with piping detail above the knees and on the back, and bold metal zips on the pockets and at the ankles of their skinny legs. They just miss being fussy, and the detail definitely renders them special enough to make it obvious that they are a designer pair.

Sadly, that does not mean I feel great in them – in fact, I feel a bit like a Michelin man. Neither does it mean I think they're worth over a thousand pounds. Though I am an intern on the Telegraph fashion desk, and consequently in receipt of no disposable income at all, my attitude toward the price of these jeans is not related to my economic standing.

I accept that designer jeans are expensive – sometimes they are worth it for their workmanship, sometimes just for the label. But by expensive, I mean jeans whose price tag is somewhere in the realm of £250. I don't know what jeans worth over a thousand pounds should look or feel like, but I know these aren't that. Then again, they are the last pair in London, so perhaps I'm wrong...